Second Thoughts

by O'Keefe, Bobbie

  They finally opened car doors and exited. When Petey pushed the seat forward and got out on Max’s side, his brother took a double take. “Shit!”

  Moose jerked his head toward them, then doubled over the car’s door, laughing so hard he was reduced to making strangled breathing noises. Petey looked confused by the commotion he’d caused. All he’d done was get out of the car.

  “That cop,” Max said. “That cop. He was right there. He passed us by, and, and…”

  Moose got control of himself. “You can take the mask off now, Petey.”

  Roughly thirty yards away, Derek backed up into Connie and made her stagger. She tightened her grip on Abbie. “Hey, what—”

  “They’re…they must be…I don’t believe this,” he whispered. He stared as if mesmerized at the Mustang and its occupants. “We stumbled right into them.”

  “Who?” Connie asked, confused. She’d been behind Derek as they’d approached and had seen nothing but the hood of a car resembling the one that had starred with Steve McQueen in that classic car chase movie. And she’d heard hearty laughter, which shouldn’t have bothered anyone.

  She and Derek and the kids stood within the shadow of a young oak, adjacent to the yard and at a side angle to the house. When she tried to step aside to look around her ex-husband, his arm went out to halt her.

  “Be still,” he hissed. “Movement might make them look over here.”

  “What are you talking about?” Because of his alarm, she also spoke in a whisper.

  “The robbers,” Christopher breathed. “We found the robbers.”

  Connie angled her head to look around Derek’s shoulder. Three men surrounded an elegant, royal blue Mustang. If they looked this way, there was no way they could miss their visitors. The oak cast ample shadow, but its trunk wasn’t nearly big enough to conceal all five of them. Fortunately, two men had their backs to the tree, and the third stood sideways to it. The trio then walked to the house and went inside.

  “What makes you think they’re the robbers?” Connie asked. Though the men were gone, she still spoke in a whisper.

  “The stocking mask was a dead giveaway,” Derek said.

  Chapter NineThree sets of eyes remained riveted on the aging farmhouse that was in bad need of another coat of redwood stain.

  Then suddenly Derek and Connie dropped to their knees, as if receiving the same belated command in the same instant. They took the babies from their shoulders and sat them on the ground. One child grabbed a handful of dirt. The other one’s head bobbed as if the baby were checking out its new environment. Following their lead, Christopher crouched next to the adults. Music, country rock, broke into the silence. Though it wasn’t loud, Connie jumped at the suddenness of the sound.

  Her mind raced around their predicament, but she couldn’t come up with a really good, really fast next move. They were in the middle of nowhere, and the skinny tree trunk was the only cover in a very wide, very open area. The only good news was they hadn’t been seen. Yet.

  Following that thought was relief she’d worn the green tank top instead of the orange one. At least she blended into the environment. Then she scrunched up her eyes and ran both hands down her face. She was thinking about how she was dressed?

  “Now what?” she whispered. If Derek’s mind was no more on target than hers, they were in trouble.

  “Main road isn’t too far off,” he whispered back. “We can backtrack, find some traffic, something. I’m not inclined to ask these guys if we can use their phone.”

  “Annie Connie.”

  “Just a second, Chris. But they don’t know that we know who they are.”

  “Unca Dare.”

  “In a minute, Chris. What difference does that make? We do know who they are.”

  Christopher was tugging Connie’s hand and Derek’s elbow. “But—”

  In the same instant, their heads snapped around to the young boy, and Connie got the words out first in an exaggerated whisper. “For crying out loud, Chris, what is it?”

  In answer he pointed at the baby who was halfway across the yard, already at an equal distance between them and the house.

  Connie jumped to her feet.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Derek caught her by the arm in mid lunge and pulled her back down.

  She turned on him, twisting and pulling, and for her efforts she got her other arm captured as well. “The baby, Derek, the baby.” She was battling herself to keep her voice down as well as fighting him to get away. “What are you doing! Let go of—”

  “I’ll go. Settle down and stay with these two.”

  “Oh, for— Stop it, Derek!”

  “You stop it! While we’re over here wrestling with each other, that baby is going to knock on the door and say hi. Now quit it.”

  Connie forced herself to be still. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done. “Then go!” she snapped. “Go!”

  Fortunately, the baby wasn’t traveling fast. It kept taking time out to bounce and twist to the music. As Derek took off after it, the child turned in a complete circle, its shoulders dipping to each side as if in time to the beat, then toddled off again. The last dance step had altered the child’s course, and it was now headed toward the parked vehicles instead of the house.

  Derek sprinted across the yard, scooped up the wanderer into the crook of his left arm, and pivoted to run back. He looked like a football player capturing a fumbled ball.

  Behind him, the screen door opened.

  “Hey, what—?”

  Derek came to an abrupt stop.

  Connie had a death grip on each child. Her hold tightened, and both kids squirmed. If the man looked this way…

  Derek turned. “Uh, hi.”

  He took a few steps toward the parked vehicles. The man’s attention remained on him, which meant it was a little less likely he’d catch sight of Connie and the kids. He was about the same height and weight as Derek but was older and appeared to be in poorer physical shape. Connie couldn’t remember the size or appearance of the other two guys. But three against one weren’t good odds, regardless of their physical condition.

  Another man appeared in the doorway, and Connie’s heart sank. He was huge.

  “Uh, hi,” Derek said to the newcomer.

  “Yeah, hi.” The first man and the second one exchanged glances. The bigger one shrugged.

  The first guy looked back at Derek. “Can I help you with something?”

  “I…ran out of gas.”

  “Oh.” He looked relieved. “That’s all. You want to use the phone?”

  “Uh, yeah. Okay. I mean…please.”

  The big man opened the screen door and motioned for Derek to come in. “No problem. Come on in. You got a cute kid. Boy or girl?”

  Derek looked down at the baby in his arm. Repositioning the child, he put his hand under its chin and tilted its head to get a better look at its face. It ducked its head, bit his finger and giggled.

  He yanked his hand back. “Must be Abbie,” he muttered.

  The big man frowned. “Must be?” he echoed. But he shrugged it off, probably thinking he’d misunderstood. “Good old-fashioned name and a pretty little baby girl.”

  Derek and baby followed the big man into the house, and the first guy followed them.

  Connie took her first deep breath since Derek had lit out after the baby. Her grip on each child loosened, but only slightly. Then she looked carefully at the baby she held. The twins both wore blue coveralls, but this one had straight hair, no forehead curl, and a turned-up nose. It seemed to be fighting sleep and was losing the battle. She looked questioningly at Chris. “Isn’t this Abbie?”

  “Uh-huh. Unca Dare can’t tell them apart.”

  She let her breath out in a long whoosh. “As long as he doesn’t have to change a diaper, it doesn’t make a difference which one he thinks he’s got.”

  She scanned the yard. They had to wait for Derek and Andy, but she didn’t like their position. They were like
goldfish in a bowl. It was pure luck so far that no one had looked their way. But neither did she want to try to hide behind either of the vehicles. Nothing looked good.

  Her gaze settled on the house again, and she wondered if situating themselves on the side of it, at the front corner beneath the window, would be their best bet. At least they wouldn’t be in the wide-open spaces. The window was curtained, so it was doubtful their approach would be detected unless someone inside came right up to the glass. And if anyone did so, she and the kids crouching beneath the tree limbs would show up as clearly as a picture on a postcard anyway. She bit her lip, not wanting to make a move for fear it would be the wrong one, but she had to do something.

  “Okay,” she said under her breath. Just in case, she mentally ran through the moves she’d learned in the self-defense class she’d taken last year. But the class hadn’t covered carrying a baby with a five-year-old child in tow. She’d have to wing that part.

  She turned to Chris. “We might be better off closer to the house, right there at the corner. We’re not concealed very well here. If we go over there, we might even be able to overhear Uncle Dare and the other men. What do you think, partner?”

  He looked at the house, then back at her. “Yes,” he said seriously. “I think that’s what we should do.”

  Connie swallowed, acutely aware of just how much she loved this child and his siblings. Fleetingly, she wondered if perhaps she and Chris and the one baby should try to backtrack instead, but quickly discarded that thought. The worst thing they could do was become separated. They had to stick together.

  And she decided she was going to buy a cell phone at her first opportunity and wear it in her pocket for the rest of her life.

  She looked at Abbie. The fresh air and activity had knocked the baby out. She wouldn’t be warning anybody of their presence. Connie nodded to Christopher, hefted the baby up, and they made their way across the yard. Chris dutifully tugged the diaper bag along with him.

  Hank Williams, Jr. was cut off in mid-note. Connie frowned and paused, not liking the silence. The music would’ve helped mask sounds she and the two kids might make. But they were halfway there and couldn’t stand out here pretending they were invisible. Chris looked up at her, his eyes both trusting and questioning. She breathed deeply, drawing on her courage, and they continued. Then finally they were crouched beneath the window at the front corner of the house. The few minutes their travel must have taken had seemed like an hour.

  “…sure look familiar to me,” someone inside the building was saying. “You’re positive we haven’t met?”

  “Yes,” Derek’s voice said. “I mean, no, we haven’t met.”

  “And your name’s Derek. Even that’s familiar, but I can’t figure out why.”

  Derek made a noncommittal sound in response.

  “Running out of gas with a baby in tow can’t be fun,” said a deeper voice. Connie assumed that must be the biggest man, and she caught a touch of humor in his tone. That was reassuring, but he still had a mask in his pocket and probably a gun in there, too.

  “They call me Moose, Mr. Derek. And that’s Max, and that’s his brother, Petey. Nice to meet you.”

  “My pleasure,” Derek said. His voice sounded forced. “And, uh, well, since the auto club said it will take close to an hour…”

  Connie scrunched her face up. An hour? He needed a new auto club.

  “Abbie and I should start back to the car.”

  “Won’t work, Mr. Derek. You gave them this address, not the location of your car.”

  Connie closed her eyes and shook her head.

  “Yeah, that’s right. That’s what I did. Uh, well…”

  “What’s that smell?” asked a new voice. Though it was deep enough that it was undeniably adult male, something in it reminded Connie of her first-graders. And Petey was a nickname for a child, not a grown man. She felt lines forming in her forehead as she tried to work out who the men were—more important, what their natures were—from the sounds of their voices alone. Neat trick. “Somebody stinks. Just like yesterday.”

  “Abbie must’ve messed her pants,” Moose said. A smile in his voice came through loud and clear. “Babies do that.”

  Derek swore mildly. “Yep, that’s what she did, all right.”

  Moose said, “No diaper bag. You didn’t bring anything with you?”

  “I brought a bag.” Derek sounded relieved. “It’s outside. I’ll go get it.”

  “I’ll walk with you.” That was the first voice again, which probably belonged to Max. He sounded suspicious, and Connie wasn’t surprised. Derek was too nervous. His mind was clearly on the group he’d left outside, and his worry showed. And Max might become even more suspicious once he found out Derek didn’t know what sex his baby was.

  “That’s not necessary,” Derek said, but Connie didn’t think he was going to win this one. She looked around, thinking hard, then pulled the bag apart, put aside a diaper and some moist wipes, and crept to the edge of the house with the carryall, holding the sleeping Abbie on her shoulder. Fervently she wished for something to slow Max down. All she needed was ten seconds. Five.

  “You go ahead,” Max said. “I need to get something, but I’ll be right behind you.”

  Derek appeared, looking anxiously toward the spot where he’d left Connie and the kids and making go-away motions. Then he faltered, appearing both puzzled and relieved that they weren’t there.

  Connie stepped out from the side of the house. Derek jumped in surprise, which made his baby laugh. She dropped the bag at his feet and thrust the sleeping Abbie at him. Out of reflex, he accepted the child into his free arm. Connie grabbed the wide-awake Andy and dodged back around the side of the house.

  “Uh,” Derek said.

  The screen door opened. “Oh, you got the bag already. That was quick.”

  After a short silence, Max said, “Never saw a baby go to sleep so fast. What happened?”

  “Must be the fresh air,” Derek said lamely.

  Abbie made fussing sounds. She probably didn’t appreciate being passed around like a football while she was trying to sleep. Her fussing grew fainter as Derek carried her into the house.

  Moose said, “Poor little thing. What happened? A minute ago she was all smiles.” Then, a short moment later, he said, “Well, I’ll be. That diaper is as clean as can be. Could’ve sworn there was a load in there.”

  “Yeah,” Derek said. He sounded weary, like he was having difficulty keeping up. “I thought so, too. Must’ve been gas. Babies do that, too.”

  “You want to watch TV, Mr. Derek, till the auto man gets here?” asked the young yet grownup voice. “Here’s the TV Guide. You can watch anything you want.”

  “O’Reilly! Derek O’Reilly. I knew I knew you!” Then the tone turned even more suspicious. “Why didn’t you tell us who you were? And that your first name is Derek, not your last, like we thought.”

  Finishing up the fastest changing job she’d ever done, Connie’s hands grew still. She waited anxiously to discover if the fact that Derek’s hosts had a celebrity in their midst would turn out to be advantageous or disadvantageous to their guest.

  “Well, uh…” Her ex-husband was usually quite glib, but he couldn’t prove that by his present display of conversational skills.

  “And, come to think of it, it says in here you’re not married and you don’t have kids. Who’s that you’re holding?”

  “I’m divorced. And this is,” he paused, sounding uncertain, then finished. “My niece. And you wouldn’t believe what happens to too many people once they realize they’re talking to a television personality. I’m a lot more comfortable just being me.”

  “Oh.” A short pause, then the voice eased up. “Makes sense.”

  “Max, go outside with me for a minute?”

  Uh-oh, Connie thought. That had been the husky voice, but it no longer sounded like it had humor in it. Once one guy’s suspicion had seemed to ease, the other one’s got started.
She wondered what was wrong. And she also wondered precisely where outside it was these guys wanted to go.

  Her gaze flew around the yard, but no cover had popped up anywhere since the last time she’d looked. The only place left to hide was the back of the house. She lifted Andy in one arm, snatched up his soiled diaper in her other hand, and motioned for Christopher to follow her. She hoped Andy would behave himself and not start talking to a leaf. She would’ve been safer with the sleeping Abbie.

  As she rounded the side of the house at a full run she almost collided with the two men who were exiting the back door.

  Everybody froze. She looked at them and they looked at her. The three people stood like statues for what seemed like eternity. Chris remained hidden around the corner of the house, but Connie didn’t know how that was going to help.

  Out of necessity, she took in a breath.

  The shorter man came to life. He pointed at the baby. He looked back inside the house, then again at Connie and her ward. “But…”

  “Twins.” The big man’s face creased into a smile. “Hey, Max, it’s finally making sense.”

  The smaller guy looked at the bigger guy. “It is?”

  “You might as well come on in,” the big one said. Moose was an apt name for him. And Max now appeared more dumbfounded than suspicious. “But first,” Moose paused and lifted the lid on the garbage can sitting next to the door. “You can throw that dirty diaper in here. And I’ll go so far as to guess that baby has a boy’s name. Right?”

  Connie said nothing. She felt rooted to the spot of ground on which she stood.

  Moose said to Max, “They must’ve seen Petey’s mask.” Then his gaze returned to Connie. “Come on in. No one’s going to hurt anyone, but we still can’t let you go. You must be Derek’s sister, the twins’ mother?”

  She shook her head.

  That seemed to throw him. “No? Well, we can finish our introductions inside.” He stood aside and motioned for her to enter. When she still hesitated, he looked beyond her, scanning the yard. “Er, there’s no one else out here?”

  Her shoulders sagged as she blew her breath out. “Chris?”